After an off day, the Phillies will try to get back to the .500 mark. They face a big test in this upcoming series against the St. Louis Cardinals, a team that is well in first place.

Tonight’s matchup will feature two young right-handed pitchers. Shelby Miller, 22, is doing very well in his first full Major League season. Miller throws a hard fastball in the mid-to-late 90s, and has a curveball and changeup to go along with it. Miller’s counterpart, 23-year old Jonathan Pettibone, has struggled on the road, having a 5.65 ERA away from Citizens Bank Park.

No, only the smart GM’s know when their teams are out of it and they get out in front of the others and take advantage of the demand for their players. The Cubs have acquired some nice assets for Matt Garza and, to a lesser extent, Matt Garza.

It actually wouldn’t surprise me. As long as they are within 7 games of Atlanta with 13 games left against the Braves on the schedule, Ruben might be thinking that all it takes is a 10-3 record vs. the Braves to essentially make the other 49 remaining games a toss-up.

Idk,I feel like this year the division might be winnable, if we played better I think we would have a shot, however as the season rolls on I find myself wondering if we aren’t playing up to full potential or is this what this team actually is…

In my opinion I would try to sell off who we can and get back some value this year, even if the division looks winnable this year I still think we should sell, because if we buy what will we have left for next year and beyond…

I agree that they are what they are, which is a poorly constructed team that has earned their ~.500 record. They have a good rotation although their #2 has not pitched as well as could be expected, a bad bullpen, an offense with too many holes and mediocre defense (very bad on the corners and decent to good up the middle). A team with their budget should not (a) be starting Delmon Young every day, (b) have such a weak bench and (c) have such a poor bullpen.

I’m just wondering what might be going through Ruben’s mind as an explanation for why they haven’t sold yet and/or for his reasoning if they do what you suggested and buy before the deadline.

“No, only the smart GM’s know when their teams are out of it and they get out in front of the others and take advantage of the demand for their players. The Cubs have acquired some nice assets for Matt Garza and, to a lesser extent, Matt Garza.”

Holy Yogiism. There’s a clear implication there that the Cubs are smart because they got ahead of the field and jumped the trade marke. It’s always a credit to the Chitown braintrust when theym realize they are sellers. The pain of the time invested in the decision is beyond imagination. They ain’t won nothin’ since the Magna Carte was signed, so what a grueling process, and much as I dig Theo (not the GM, but only Jed should bother me with details) , the Cub club isn’t winning until 2325 AD unless The Billygoat lessens his grip on the Bruins neck. My, those Cubs are rocket acientific in nature for realizing they were sellers. And to the extent that history is qualified to project the future, they might as well sell the rights to Shawon Dunston’s great great grandkids pretty soon since they can confidently get a jump on that market as well.

What an example of a team earning praise for realizing they were sellers early. Too bad the Clippers don’t play baseball. At least there might have been an alternative mention.

Good catch. Of course, I meant, “to a lesser extent, Scott Feldman.” Regardless, the point stands that the Cubs were the first to the market as sellers and got, according to most people who write and blog about prospects, a good return for two starting pitchers who are not in their 2014 plans. And, while what you say about the Cubs’ past is true, it is not too different from the Red Sox past at the time they hired a new progressive GM named Theo Epstein in 2002.

I just don’t see much interest in many players.
Ruiz? everybody has a catcher who can’t hit.
Papelbon? Marginally effective closer on the downside.
Lee? Not with that salary.
Young? How much you gonna get for him?

Papelbon is still owed $31M through the end of 2015 and another $13M in 2016 if he finishes 55 games in 2015 or 100 games in 2014 and 2015 combined. KRod is owed less than $600K for the rest of the season. When factoring salary into the equation and considering that “buying” teams are looking for ~20 innings from the player they acquire, KRod was a much more valuable commodity than Papelbon on this season’s trade market.

Through 100 games, the Phillies have a winning percentage of .490% …. for them to think that they can suddenly start playing at a .650% or better, and continue that way for the remainder of the season is simply delusional. …also, that .650% only gets them to 89-wins .. no guarantee of a WC birth … and IF you get the Wild Card, you get a one-game-playoff … that shouldn’t be the goal of this team. Get what you can for the players that have value and start this whole thing over.

The record projected for them to ensure a playoff spot in this year’s NL .. is 95-67. … Anyone think the Phillies are going to win 46-of-62 from here out? No, me neither. SELL SELL SELL. And i’ll still go see whoever wears the uniform next season.. it’s the name on the front, not the name on the back that matters!

Well in fairness, the game recaps are pretty much all the same the last two years. Feel free to copy/paste this as a game recap for rest of the 30-35 losses we’ll have this season:

—A young, unknown, and/or mediocre pitcher baffles the Phillies’ hitters for 7 innings.
—Our starting pitcher gets some shoddy defense played behind him costing him at least a run.
—Our 7th and/or 8th inning reliever gives up a run or two in a close game, pretty much putting the game out of reach.
—With us somehow, miraculously still in the game and the game on the line in the 9th, one of our hitters has a terrible AB, costing us the game.

Rube needs to sell… there’s really no way that you can expect this team to play the way they need to play over the remaining 62 games without serious help and even with help, it’s a crap shoot because you have to hope that the teams ahead of them fall. Too much on the shelf… too many holes… too much to expect from the few guys that are producing (Lee can’t win every game, Dom Brown is really not a #4 hitter and shouldn’t be expected to produce like one at this stage in his career, Utley is still one year removed from missing a lot of games with knee issues, Kendrick is still a #4 starter pitching as-if he’s our #2…). I love this team and the players that have made this era the greatest era in Phillies history but we have to be smart. Everyone has to be on the table, at this point. Young, Papelbon, Ruiz and anyone else that has perceived value… even Utley. If you can get a team’s best prospect for any of these guys, you listen… I will keep coming back to Carlos Beltran. At age 34 and in the final year of his contract, Beltran and his woeful knees netted the Mets Zack Wheeler… Utley is 34 and in the final year of his contract. If we can fetch a similar haul, pull the trigger.

I agree the starting pitching has come up small since the ASB, but the bottom line is in those 3 losses, they’ve scored a total of 5 runs. Defensively, some of those hits that lead to earned runs they’ve given up should have scored errors, or flat out should have been outs if the balls were played properly, or we had some fielders that had more range than a fire hydrant.

Maybe the PN writers have just gotten tired of all the negative comments that even winning games seem to generate, and needed a break from responses to their recaps. Sure enough, though, even without a game recap, people have found some other place to whine about the Phils’ play. Some break, eh?

The DFA does not mean they are waving good-bye to Humby. It just means they are removing him from the 40-man and he has to pass through waivers before they can outright him to the minors. Most likely, he will pass through and be available should they trade Chooch.